Homes

Patio pleasures

My favourite garden patios for al fresco dining with family and friends at the height of summer

The rooftop garden restaurant at Joe Fortes is an excellent location for summer lunches. The green garden wall and pots of trees surround the patio.

Photograph by: Kim Stallknecht
, Vancouver Sun

What could be nicer on a warm summer's day than to dine al fresco with a beautiful garden all around you?

August is the month for it. June is unpredictable, July can be just as hit-and-miss; but August is usually the month when we can confidently set the table outside for lunch or dinner under cloudless skies.

For me, there is no better place than my own deck, from where I am not only surrounded by lovely plants, but from where I can see the garden from end to end in all its beauty.

There are three other key sitting areas in my garden where I love to have a sandwich and beer for lunch or pop a bottle of Prosecco for a lazy afternoon.

But when it comes to more formal dining with friends and family, there are a few places where I love to go to relax and dine in a wonderful garden setting.

The delightful rooftop patio of Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House on Thurlow Street is one of them.

A few years ago, then-owner Bud Kanke decided to install what at the time was one of the first green walls in town.

He also decided (with the help of talented designer David Vance) to replace the rambunctious perennial garden with a more formal series of planters, each containing a silver-leaked weeping willow pear tree (Pyrus salicifolia 'Silver Cascade') with lavender 'Anouk' underneath.

Today, all this has matured into a lush garden, with the lavender bushes bursting out in great mounds of purple flowers below the silver foliage of the trees.

Blue ornamental grasses and agapanthus have also been added here and there to add other cool shades of blue.

And the green wall - once dotted with tiny plug-plants - has now filled out into a dense, vertical tapestry of green and silver with a lavish mix of sedums, heuchera, helichrysum, artemisia and strawberry plants left to freely tumble down into a vibrant jumble of colour and leaf texture.

Protected from the searing midday sun by the white canvas of large patio umbrellas, it's not hard to see why this elegant roof garden is such a popular al fresco lunch spot with locals and tourists alike.

The patio at Shaughnessy Restaurant at VanDusen Botanical Garden on Oak Street is another of my favourites, especially if I can get there early enough to snap up one of the little bistro tables on the cosy covered-deck area with a view of what used to be the children's garden.

Looking out on to this lovely garden of conifers and weeping beech, day lilies, golden grasses and astilbes - all nicely framed by wooden trellising - you also get to enjoy the soothing sounds of water gurgling in the little cherub fountain.

The quieter inner courtyard area, with its overhanging fig tree and large windmill palm in the corner, has a more tropical flavour; but the garden view is hard to beat.

By the way, the chicken and papaya salad with jicama is easily the most popular summer lunchtime dish, although my favourite is always the niçoise salad, ideally accompanied by an ice-cold Viognier, Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

If you are looking for something more casual, there's Truffles café only a few steps away in VanDusen's new $22-million visitor centre.

You can get great salads and sandwiches here and find a fabulous spot at one of the café tables outside on the patio overlooking Livingstone Lake.

Egan Davis, one of VanDusen's top gardeners, has broken up a pile of terracotta roof tiles and scattered the pieces into a slender border edged by a low clipped willow hedge and planted lavender, nicotiana and an assortment of culinary plants such as kale and sage.

The view from the patio also takes in the evolving meadow garden that Davis has been working on.

A set of three striking white Carrara marble works of sculpture by David Marshall have also recently been installed in this garden, further enhancing the view and artistic visual stimulation and interest for patio diners.

On the other side of town, The Teahouse in Stanley Park has a striking white and green entrance garden leading to its patio.

This curving border comprises a fun mix of tall white Nicotiana sylvestris and large blue leaves of cabbage with frilly lettuce and ornamental grasses tossed in for foliage interest.

Designed and maintained by Karin Hers-Schaffner, of Botanica Design, the garden surrounding the Teahouse's inviting patio contains a bright stand of red monarda and bright yellow pot marigolds.

Chefs at the restaurant still dip into the garden for ingredients, taking clippings from various herb plants - mint, rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano - as well as plucking kale leaves when needed.

Take time before summer's over for a leisurely al fresco lunch at one of these superb dining spots. Your friends will appreciate the invitation.

If I am not there, I'll be on my own patio popping a bottle of Prosecco to go with the antipasto. Ciao!

swhysall@vancouversun.com

FAV SPOTS

I asked friends for their favourite garden patio places and here's what they said:

. There is a "hidden" one in a garden behind T Room Tea on West 10th.

. Provence Mediterranean Grill on West 10th has a lovely little deck and it usually has some gorgeous hanging baskets.

. There is a lovely low hedge and some planting off of the Dockside patio at the Granville Island Hotel. The patio overlooks False Creek.

. Provence Marinaside at the foot of Davie faces the marina and the False Creek sea-wall. It has baskets and large planters.

. Adesso Bistro in the Buchan Hotel on Haro Street in the West End has a lovely hidden patio surrounded by trees and hedges.

. C Restaurant on Howe Street has a wonderful patio that looks over the mouth of False Creek and over to Granville Island

. Pier 7 is right on the dock at the foot of Lonsdale in North Vancouver. It has both a patio and deck. Both have spectacular views of the harbour and downtown Vancouver.

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